TENNESCENE JUL. 27-AUG. 9

LEADERS

Enough Grace Ministries led by Candise Farmer of Tennessee Valley Community Church, Paris, will hold a Rest for the Soul Ladies Retreat Oct. 21-22. Stormie Omartian will speak. The retreat, which is also for teenage girls, will be held at Paris Landing State Park, Buchanan. For more information, contact enoughgraceministries@gmail.com or rest4thesoul.com.

CHURCHES

Short Creek Baptist Church, Christiana, will hold its annual homecoming on the grounds Aug. 14 with singing beginning at 10:30 a.m. Dave Christianao will speak. For more information, contact Pastor Mark Rosson at 615-692-4146 or annettebll@aol.com.

Dickerson Road Baptist Church, Nashville, will hold revival services Aug. 14-17. Phil Glisson, evangelist of Memphis, will preach.

First Baptist Church, Paris, sent 22 people to Wasilla, Alaska, to hold a Jesus, Arts, and Music (JAM) Camp. The team served July 15-23. Another seven members of the church served in Guatemala June 28 – July 5 to support the Tennessee/Guatemala Baptist Partnership. They joined a Western District Baptist Association team of 18 Tennesseans.

First Baptist Church, Parsons, sent a missions team to Belize July 9-16. They took 100 dresses for girls made by the Parsons Sewing Club.

First Baptist Church, Strawberry Plains, has begun building a new sanctuary. Eighty-five Carpenters for Christ spent a week helping them.

Eastland Baptist Church, Nashville, held its Vacation Bible School June 20-23 in the evenings. The church draws about 65 people to Sunday morning worship. It saw about 25-30 participate in the VBS for children Kindergarten-grade 6 which was led by some of the youth of the church. As a result, 14 participants including about 4-5 youth workers made professions of faith, reported Israel Brooks, pastor.

First Baptist Church, Adamsville, led by its Women on Mission, are collecting hygiene bags for children to be distributed by the Health Department. The project is being conducted for two months.

Brownsville Baptist Church, Brownsville, held its annual Summer Dinner Theatre July 21-22.

Meridian Baptist Church, Knoxville, sent 28 people on a youth missions team to Myrtle Beach, S.C., July 2-9. They worked with children in a trailer park and apartment complex, meeting about 60 children. “There were several children we met that didn’t go to church and even a few who had never even heard of Jesus or the Bible,” reported Chris Fachman, interim minister of students. At the end of the week, five children had made professions of faith. The team was hosted by First Baptist Church, Myrtle Beach.

Parkway Baptist Church, Goodlettsville, conducted a Vacation Bible School for the Hope Center of the Nashville Rescue Mission, which provides for mothers and their children. The VBS was offered July 18-21.

First Baptist Church, Lawrenceburg, held Fantastic Family Fun Nights for five Wednesday nights this summer. The nights included a meal, Bible study for all ages, games, and crafts.

When school begins in August, First Baptist Church, Jefferson City, will begin picking up children from school on Wednesday nights, providing a snack, tutoring, and activities, and then children’s choir and missions activities.

First Baptist Church, Bolivar, held a Vacation Bible School visitation blitz following its VBS which drew about 129 children and a total of about 200 participants, reported Mary Yates, children’s coordinator. The church draws about 250 to Sunday morning activities.

EVENTS

Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union will hold Equipping Missions and Ministry Leaders Aug. 13 in Mount Juliet, Aug. 20 in Lexington, and Aug. 27 in Lenoir City. The events will include conferences, ministry fairs, bookstores, and fellowship. For more information, contact 615-371-2038 or vclemons@tnbaptist.org.

The facility of Riverview Baptist Church, Savannah, as seen here, on June 23 was being built by Baptist Builders of Texas who worked on the church for about seven days. Previously the congregation owned a facility which had been a retail space. Brent Colley, minister of music, reported that about 200 builders left the building in the dry and with shingles. “It was a top notch group. … They were like a family. They worked like a machine.” (cont'd)
(cont'd) Their work saved the church about $200,000 in labor costs. Currently church members are working on the facility when they can and will work with another volunteer construction team in September, said Colley. Here, one of the final jobs of the Texas crew was to set the steeple on Friday, June 24.
A missions team coordinated by First Baptist Church, Bethel Springs, pauses in Guatemala June 20-27 with Garry Eudy, coordinator of the Tennessee/Guatemala Baptist Partnership, and four translators. While there church leaders signed a partnership between the church and a church in Santa Cruz del Quiche, reported David Singleton, senior pastor. The team of 13 people included members of five different churches. According to Eudy, this is the first partnership between churches supporting the overall partnership.
Widows are recognized by First Baptist Church, Ridgetop, recently. The recognition was led by Laura Dodd, Woman’s Missionary Union director, with help from her daughter, Bridget Pack. The widows received several gifts on that day. From left are Pack; Dodd; Gloria Smith (partially seen); Audrey Phillips; Jud Hayes, transitional interim pastor; Jewel Butler; Leona Ayers (partially seen); Roberta Parks; and Sue West. Not pictured was Judy Lassiter. Gifts also were distributed to homebound widows.
Steve Pearson and Elizabeth Holmes of the Tennessee Baptist Convention Executive Board staff were recognized on July 14 for their tenure. Holmes, disaster relief assistant, has worked for the TBC in various roles for 30 years. Pearson, Harvest Fields team and leader/evangelism specialist who lives in Hixson, has served for 10 years.